Biographical Statement:
Los Angeles native Kerry Hyatt is a classically trained artist with a degree in fine art from Art Center College of Design. Under the moniker KHNo7, Hyatt is known for her iconic Champion sparkplug image, which has been pasted all over LA. She has shown at Lab Art, The Mondrian, Gold Haus Gallery, and Flower Pepper Gallery. She works as a graphic designer in the film and television industry.

Interview with Flower Pepper Gallery:

How would you describe your own artwork?
My primary mediums are collage, mixed-media, and illustration. My recent work tends toward minimalist-yet-macroscopic collage pieces with a heavy emphasis on iconography and geometry.

Is there a story behind this piece?
Having been born and raised in LA, I feel a growing threat within the city. The vast divide between the ever-growing wealthy sector and the poorer populations is more evident than ever before. Rents are at an all-time high. More and more, I feel that common folk, hardworking people, including artists of all types, are slowly being pushed to the fringes if not altogether pushed out of the city. Along with them, the city’s cultural history and its wide-open spaces are rapidly being replaced with parking garages and high-end shopping malls. LA has always been a place that privileges and promotes excess, but it has also been able to maintain space for makers of culture. This piece reimagines a 1937 map of Los Angeles, illustrated by Don Boggs, and shifts focus from vintage glamor to contemporary reality. Instead of the movie palaces of Hollywood’s golden age, I’m drawing attention to the Scientology Celebrity Center. Rather than showcasing a star’s home in the hills, I shed light on the disturbing truths/untruths that may lie within. I see this as a map of the city’s shadow.

Can you talk about your creative process?
Despite my meticulous planning, note taking, collecting, and research, I usually take my time—often until the last minute—to execute a work of art. For me to make a piece I have to think of it more like a construction site.